i agree with most of this advice, but am allergic to 'thee/thou' especially as it is usually used in a grammatically incorrect or inconsistent form in churches.i can cope with listening to bad arabic (i speak it!) but bad english hurts, as it's my mother tongue!

But also take time to learn about the jurisdiction and the local Bishop. The pastor won't be in any one parish forever and he may not reflect the general "m.o." of a particular jurisdiction or be on board with his Bishop's philosophy. Change under those circumstances can be jarring and disheartening.

Thanks for all the replies. We finally got settled in, and we went to St. Katherine's last weekend. It's Greek, which is what my husband wanted (he is irrationally against any Russian-affiliated church, including OCA), and also the closest one.

It was nice, but I just didn't feel as at home there as I did back on the west coast. No one talked to us (understandably, I guess), only the cantors sang, and almost EVERYTHING was in Greek, including the creed. Not to mention there was no transliteration of the Greek in the little book, and neither my husband nor I can read Greek. Back home things were about half and half, and everyone sang the "people's" parts. We dressed nicely (husband wore a polo shirt and nice pants), but still felt out of place since everyone was in suits or equivalent. Everything just seemed stiff and distant.

We won't be able to go tomorrow because my MIL is dragging us to her old Lutheran church while she's visiting because they're having some festival and she's a big deal or some such.

I'm just feeling discouraged, I guess. Not from the faith itself, but about moving here and not feeling any real fellowship like I did at home.

Thanks for all the replies. We finally got settled in, and we went to St. Katherine's last weekend. It's Greek, which is what my husband wanted (he is irrationally against any Russian-affiliated church, including OCA), and also the closest one.

It was nice, but I just didn't feel as at home there as I did back on the west coast. No one talked to us (understandably, I guess), only the cantors sang, and almost EVERYTHING was in Greek, including the creed. Not to mention there was no transliteration of the Greek in the little book, and neither my husband nor I can read Greek. Back home things were about half and half, and everyone sang the "people's" parts. We dressed nicely (husband wore a polo shirt and nice pants), but still felt out of place since everyone was in suits or equivalent. Everything just seemed stiff and distant.

We won't be able to go tomorrow because my MIL is dragging us to her old Lutheran church while she's visiting because they're having some festival and she's a big deal or some such.

I'm just feeling discouraged, I guess. Not from the faith itself, but about moving here and not feeling any real fellowship like I did at home.

One church doesn't set the standard for a metropolitan area. Try attending other Greek Orthodox churches in the DC metro area. There's always day trips to churches like Baltimore, Annapolis, Frederick and Harford County

Divine Liturgy starts at 10 AM for all churches and all of them have ample parking.

try this:The Divine Liturgy for Mixed Voices in Greek and English (SEM 1012)This is a Liturgy based on traditional hymns. The main hymns appear twice, once in Greek and again in English, so there are no awkward adjustments of the text. Contains the basic Liturgy, eight apolytikia and hierarchichal liturgical responses. It is 161 pages in length, and one has two complete liturgies, one Greek and one in English. The Greek text with English phonetics.

what did your husband think about it?i have been to 2 greek liturgies, so i understand that it can seem very distant to the new person, but if you pluck up courage to speak to the people there, you should find that many of those people who look very silent are actually praying a lot internally.

may God guide you both, and bless your mother in law with your presence next weekend.

Here's a quick directory of EO churches in the DMV area. I don't know if Romanian counts as too Russian in your husband's book, but the Protection of the Holy Mother Orthodox Church is not too far from St. Katherines. It's only a couple miles away.

Thanks for all the replies. We finally got settled in, and we went to St. Katherine's last weekend. It's Greek, which is what my husband wanted (he is irrationally against any Russian-affiliated church, including OCA), and also the closest one.

It was nice, but I just didn't feel as at home there as I did back on the west coast. No one talked to us (understandably, I guess), only the cantors sang, and almost EVERYTHING was in Greek, including the creed. Not to mention there was no transliteration of the Greek in the little book, and neither my husband nor I can read Greek. Back home things were about half and half, and everyone sang the "people's" parts. We dressed nicely (husband wore a polo shirt and nice pants), but still felt out of place since everyone was in suits or equivalent. Everything just seemed stiff and distant.

We won't be able to go tomorrow because my MIL is dragging us to her old Lutheran church while she's visiting because they're having some festival and she's a big deal or some such.

I'm just feeling discouraged, I guess. Not from the faith itself, but about moving here and not feeling any real fellowship like I did at home.

One church doesn't set the standard for a metropolitan area. Try attending other Greek Orthodox churches in the DC metro area. There's always day trips to churches like Baltimore, Annapolis, Frederick and Harford County

Divine Liturgy starts at 10 AM for all churches and all of them have ample parking.

Thank you for the information, but there's no way I'd drive 2 hours every Sunday to go to Baltimore for church!

try this:The Divine Liturgy for Mixed Voices in Greek and English (SEM 1012)This is a Liturgy based on traditional hymns. The main hymns appear twice, once in Greek and again in English, so there are no awkward adjustments of the text. Contains the basic Liturgy, eight apolytikia and hierarchichal liturgical responses. It is 161 pages in length, and one has two complete liturgies, one Greek and one in English. The Greek text with English phonetics.

what did your husband think about it?i have been to 2 greek liturgies, so i understand that it can seem very distant to the new person, but if you pluck up courage to speak to the people there, you should find that many of those people who look very silent are actually praying a lot internally.

may God guide you both, and bless your mother in law with your presence next weekend.

^^^^This is what my old church did! I really liked that things were in Greek and then repeated in English, and we all got to sing the people's parts. At St. K's, almost everything was just in Greek, and there was barely any participation.

He didn't dislike it...He suggested that we'd probably have to join a group or something to actually meet people. Sad but probably true. Once I get back from being out of town, we're probably going to check out an OCA mission church that I convinced him we should try. Hopefully this will be better suited to our needs.

Here's a quick directory of EO churches in the DMV area. I don't know if Romanian counts as too Russian in your husband's book, but the Protection of the Holy Mother Orthodox Church is not too far from St. Katherines. It's only a couple miles away.

Thank you for the useful link! We're hoping to check out All Saints of America once I'm back in town.

Thanks for all the replies. We finally got settled in, and we went to St. Katherine's last weekend. It's Greek, which is what my husband wanted (he is irrationally against any Russian-affiliated church, including OCA), and also the closest one.

It was nice, but I just didn't feel as at home there as I did back on the west coast. No one talked to us (understandably, I guess), only the cantors sang, and almost EVERYTHING was in Greek, including the creed. Not to mention there was no transliteration of the Greek in the little book, and neither my husband nor I can read Greek. Back home things were about half and half, and everyone sang the "people's" parts. We dressed nicely (husband wore a polo shirt and nice pants), but still felt out of place since everyone was in suits or equivalent. Everything just seemed stiff and distant.

We won't be able to go tomorrow because my MIL is dragging us to her old Lutheran church while she's visiting because they're having some festival and she's a big deal or some such.

I'm just feeling discouraged, I guess. Not from the faith itself, but about moving here and not feeling any real fellowship like I did at home.

One church doesn't set the standard for a metropolitan area. Try attending other Greek Orthodox churches in the DC metro area. There's always day trips to churches like Baltimore, Annapolis, Frederick and Harford County

Divine Liturgy starts at 10 AM for all churches and all of them have ample parking.

Thank you for the information, but there's no way I'd drive 2 hours every Sunday to go to Baltimore for church!

I don't think picking a jurisdiction is as big of a deal as picking a parish. I don't care what jurisdiction a parish is in, but I do want to go to one that is friendly, where I respect the priest, one that provides good education of Orthodoxy, etc...

I'd say these would be primary concerns in choosing between parishes. Personally, I felt more at home at the Greek parish down the street, but being new to Orthodoxy and not at all familiar with Greek, I switched to an OCA church for a few liturgies. About two weeks ago, I decided to just go to the Greek church I loved so much, and hope that over time, I'll pick up enough Greek to truly understand everything going on in the Liturgy.

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Some of my questions might appear patently stupid to those well-versed in Orthodoxy, but I'm brand new, having no background in the faith. Please grant me a great deal of patience and consideration as I learn the basics.

I've been attending the GOARCH parish down the street for several weeks now, but just found out I'll be moving to a new city in less than a month, where there are a TON of different Orthodox parishes and even some beautiful cathedrals. There are GOARCH, OCA, and ROCOR parishes, as well as a few others.

My question is: How do I choose? I am nearly fluent in Russian, since I studied it for nine years and spent two summers in Russia. I don't know Slavonic, but can figure it out fairly well. However, I am already picking up some Greek (both liturgical and modern) after only a few weeks. To some extent I'm worried about getting caught up in the ethnic culture of a ROCOR or GOARCH parish instead of focusing on the religion, but on the other hand I feel that the liturgical language adds a lot to the Divine Liturgy. Before I started going to the Orthodox church, I'd been attending Latin Mass once a month at a local Catholic parish. Right now I'm leaning towards the ROCOR parish because I am more familiar with the language and culture.

The other issue is my husband. He will be going to the Divine Liturgy tomorrow morning with me for the first time. He's a cradle/cultural Catholic who is basically an agnostic and is wary of the Orthodox Church services because "They don't have pews" and "Services will be four hours long." I know that the ROCOR parish in DC does not have pews, but the parish here does. He doesn't like the Latin Mass much because it's in a foreign language and he can't figure out what's going on, so I think he might be more receptive to an OCA parish. The ROCOR parish has an English liturgy and a Slavonic liturgy, but I don't know if the English liturgy is really 100% English. (The GOARCH liturgy here is about half English and half Greek.)

It almost appears that we would want opposite things in a parish. I'm really struggling with how to balance my spiritual needs/desires with the desire to attend a parish that he'll be comfortable in, even though he'd just be attending to do so as a family.

How do you suggest I reconcile these conflicting needs? I will continue to pray and think things over, but I would appreciate some outside guidance as well.

Thank you

Our Parrish in Beltsville (PG County) may be a good choice for you. We are Rocor but all the services are entirely in English. The Priests are converts and born and raised locally. We are close to the U of Maryland. Many people are bi-lingual at a minimum. One fellow is a professional translator and speaks seven or eight languages. He is also a former Roman Catholic Priest.

Missions are very humble. We are in an office park but own a Church down the road built in 1880 that we are renovating. The vibe is different than a big Parrish. Very family oriented. Lots of babies and lots of kids crying and fussing. No pews but benches along the walls for those who prefer.

Private message me if you want.

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Your idea has been debunked 1000 times already.. Maybe 1001 will be the charm

Why not just choose the Orthodox Church that falls under the banner of the United States? Its better that way.

What do you mean by"under the banner of the United States"? And what would necessarily make what you suggest correct, as I assume you mean OCA? I have no axe to grind with the OCA, but why would you assume it to be the correct "default" choice?